Reported by Dawn Harvie

Once again, Guild Director Hilary Purvis lead us through a blind tasting of similar wines in the 10, 20, and 30 dollar range. Could we tell the difference? As we went through this tasting, many of us were thinking “let my favourite wine of the flight be the $10 one!!”

The first flight featured three Chardonnays. The first, from Yalumba, had some mineral notes and lots of lemon, as well as a touch of sulphur—noticeable, but not overpowering. It was quite tart in the mouth, sour, bitter, and full of seemingly unripe fruit. The Milburn Park had some floral and tropical notes, some wet wool, and petrol. On the palate, the wet wool came through along with some mineral notes, grapefruit, and nice acidity. It was a decidedly easy drinking wine. The Sterling Chardonnay had lots of caramel, butterscotch, and oaky notes that followed through on the palate along with baked apples and melon. The Milburn Park and Sterling Chardonnays were tied for favourite of the flight.

Merlot was the featured grape of flight two. The ‘Bollini’ Merlot had some earthy notes and lots of stewed red fruit. On the palate, it had some spice and earthy notes, but the tannins were slightly dusty, young, and the wine was not extremely well-balanced. The Casa Lapostolle Merlot had some mint or medicinal notes and one big hit of sweet jammy red fruit, which came through on the palate. It is not a complex wine. The Sterling Merlot was the favourite of the flight with lots of oak and mint and big red/black fruit on the nose. In the mouth, there was nice acid balance and a more complex finish than the Casa Lapostolle. Those that did not choose this wine as their favourite either found there was too much apparent oak in the wine or that it was rather boring overall.

The next flight was a Shiraz/Syrah flight. The first wine of the flight, the ‘In Situ’ Syrah from Chile, had some floral and vegetal notes, cocoa, and, unusually, tangerine. On the palate, there were some medicinal notes, spice, sweet raspberry fruit, and vanilla. The Penfolds ‘Bin 128’ Shiraz was corked—for many, the cork blew off, for others, it did not. Many found thatthis wine was a big powerhouse of fruit, with sour raspberries. It was not well-balanced. One of the participants remarked that “to its advantage, the finish was quite short”. The Cathedral Cellars Shiraz had barnyard, burnt rubber, oak, smoke, and bacon, all of which followed through on the palate. This wine was the favourite wine of the flight.

The favourite wine of flight four was split evenly between the three Cabernet Sauvignons. The Perez Cruz was certainly a good buy for those who enjoyed it. The nose was full of big black sweet fruit and some green pepper. The aromas followed through on the palate along with some big tannins. The Penfolds ‘Bin 407’ had some earthy and mushroomy notes and ripe raspberry fruit. On the palate, it had earthy notes, raspberry fruit, and coffee grinds, and had apparent alcohol. The last of the flight, the Cathedral Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon had some medicinal notes, oak, smoke, and coffee. On the palate, there were ripe tannins, green pepper, and a long finish. It would make a quite suitable match for red meat.

Thanks to Hilary for an interesting tasting! She proved once again that a good value can be had at any price!

Flight 1: Chardonnay

Yalumba ‘Y Series’ Unwooded Chardonnay, 2004, South Australia, 13% alc. $14.95

Milburn Park Chardonnay, 2004, South Australia, 13% alc. $12.95

Sterling Chardonnay, 2003, Napa, California, 13.5% alc. $24.95

Flight 2: Merlot

Empson ‘Bollini’ Merlot, 2003, Alto Adige/Trentino, Italy, 12% alc. $13.95

Casa Lapostolle Merlot, 2004, Chile, 13% alc. $15.95

Sterling Merlot, 2002, Napa, California, 13.5% alc. $28.95

Flight 3: Syrah/Shiraz

Vina San Esteban ‘In Situ’ Syrah, 2003, Chile, 13.5% alc. $13.95

Penfolds ‘Bin 128’ Shiraz, 2001, South Australia, 13.5% alc. $29.95

KWV Cathedral Cellars Shiraz, 2000, South Africa, 14.5% alc. $16.95

Flight 4: Cabernet Sauvignon

Perez Cruz Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva, 2004, Chile, 14.5% alc. $13.95

Penfolds ‘Bin 407’ Cabernet Sauvignon, 2002, South Australia, 14.1% alc. $29.95

KWV Cathedral Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, 2001, South Africa, 13.5% alc. $16.95